The Waycross-Ware County Airport received a special visitor earlier this month — pilot Bruce Hammer, attempting to set a transcontinental West to East speed record in his single-engine plane.
Hammer departed from California the morning of March 13, flying non-stop to arrive at the local airport just after 6 p.m. EDT. Despite his efforts, Hammer came up short of breaking the record with a speed of 279.62 mph.
This was not Hammer’s first attempt at setting a record. He initially set the transcontinental speed record in March, 2006, flying non-stop from San Diego to Jacksonville, Fla. Competing in the C-1.b class, Hammer averaged 258.27 mph, flying eight hours, five minutes and 21 seconds. That record was broken a few years later at 292 mph. Hammer made yet another attempt to reclaim the mark in 2018, using a Lycoming 360 engine in his plane.
“So I put a belt-driven supercharger on it,” recalled Hammer, a helicopter pilot by trade servicing oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, “and I got just over Waycross and the supercharger failed.” This mechanical failure, combined with thunderstorms impeding his progress, ultimately prevented Hammer from recapturing the record.
For this latest attempt, Hammer removed the supercharger, and put in a 540 engine. “It’s a little bit faster with the 540 in. I thought I could have a good chance of recapturing that record,” said Hammer, who builds planes for air race competition. “The winds didn’t work out quite as well as I would’ve liked. I would’ve needed a 30-knot tail wind, all the way, which is pretty doable this time of year, but today it just didn’t work out.”
Hammer is persistent however, and said he may try again next year
